Roasted Chickpea Stew

Okay.  This roasted chickpea stew is amazing and easily falls within the top three dishes I've ever made (it's closely ranked the beef bourguignon and a Moroccan stew).  I stumbled upon the original recipe on the Whole Foods website while searching for a use for leftover ginger root.

According to the original recipe, the dish has Ethiopian roots which is a type of food I've never experimented with.  It's heavy in spice and requires roasting the chickpeas prior to making the stew.  This is an absolute necessary step as the roasting intensifies the otherwise bland chickpeas.


Roasted Chickpea Stew


1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice 
1/2 tsp ground black pepper 
1/4 tsp ground cardamom 
1/4 tsp ground cloves 
1/4 tsp ground coriander 
1/4 tsp cayenne 
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped2 15oz cans no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained 
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1 medium red onion, chopped 
1 8oz can no-salt-added tomato sauce 
1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth 
1 pound sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks 
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks 


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cover chickpeas in 1 tbsp olive oil and spread on a baking sheet.  Roast chickpeas until a bit dried out, about 15 minutes. 


Mix together paprika, salt, allspice, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, coriander, and cayenne in a small bowl.  Set aside, and in a large pot, heat the remaining olive oil.  Once hot, add fresh ginger, garlic and onion.  Saute until onions are tender, about 8 minutes.  Stir in spice mixture and continue to saute for an additional 2 minutes.  Stir in tomato sauce and saute for another 2 minutes.


Next, add broth, sweet potatoes, carrots and chickpeas and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cover, cooking for about 20 minutes.  Remove the cover and allow sauce to simmer and thicken for 25 minutes.  Serve in bowls with bread on the side.